WIP. This entry is growing stronger everyday.
About
“I Am Growing Stronger” is a memorable statement from the American doctor Kent Brantly, who contracted Ebola during his stay on Africa. Although the quote was refering to his recovery from the virus and the effectiveness of the medicine, on some online communities it was interpreted as he was gaining powers from the infection, inspiring a series of edits where Brantly was given glowing eyes.
Origin
On August 8th, 2014, Kent Brantly released his first public statement since contracting Ebola stating that he was “growing stronger every day.” Various news outlets wrote about this statement, such as Time,[1] The Guardian,[2] Fox News[3] and Mashable.[4]
On August 13th, a thread[5] was made on 4chan’s /pol/ board where Brantly’s statement was jokingly received to define that he was gaining superhuman abilities from Ebola. Following this, various images were posted in that thread where pictures of Brantly were photoshopped to give him glowing eyes and other signs of superhman powers. The thread was subsequently screencaptured (shown below) and posted on the r/4chan sub-Reddit[6] where it received over 4,000 upvotes in a few days.
Search Interest
External References
[1]Time – Ebola Patient in U.S.: ‘I Am Growing Stronger Every Day’
[2]The Guardian – US Ebola victim writes from hospital: ‘I am growing stronger every day’
[3]Fox News – Ebola-infected American doctor releases statement from isolation: ‘I am growing stronger every day’
[4]Mashable – American Ebola Patient: ‘I Am Growing Stronger Every Day’
[5]Archive.4plebs – EBOLASECRETLYGIVESWHITEPEOPLESUPERHUMANPOWERS
[6]r/4chan – /pol/ Ebola thread
[7]Archive.moe – Search for growing stronger
[8]Archive.4plebs – Search for growing stronger